Skip to content
    Psychology A-Level

    content analysis

    What content analysis means in Psychology A-Level, as defined for AQA, OCR.

    Definitions of content analysis

    Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.

    Check what you remember

    Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain content analysis in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.

    Reference: OCR

    A method in which commercials are coded using a coding frame of verb categories and voice-over sex, as in Johnson and Young's study of 478 broadcast commercials.
    OCR · Section B: Option 1 Child psychology
    The researcher reads the material, agrees coding categories in advance, applies them, and counts how often each category appears, turning words into frequencies.
    AQA · Handling data (study guide)
    The researcher fixes coding categories, breaks the material into units, decides which category each unit falls into and tallies the totals.
    OCR · D.1 – handling data
    An indirect observational technique applied to communications and artefacts rather than to people behaving in front of a researcher.
    AQA · Research methods (study guide)

    Topics that use content analysis

    Related terms

    Using content analysis in the exam

    Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.

    Practise Psychology questions

    Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.

    Start free

    A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge

    All Psychology A-Level terms